Sloth is one of the seven deadly sins and should be unthinkable within the walls of a kitchen.
Instead of resorting to lazy food, I hope to come up with clever quick dishes that are tasty, good to look at and not requiring ridiculous amounts of effort and time. Also, I’m feeling Christmas. The tree is arriving in a few days. And I’m thinking, Christmas cookies anyone?
So. Before I bugger off back to this monster of a thesis, let me just say that this recipe is pretty straightforward. Salt the mackerel for a few hours before grilling. Come back to it later and chuck it under the grill whilst you prepare the vegetables. It’s so quick, I can honestly say it’s a good student meal and healthy too! And if you’re in a bad way needing a salt-fix, this is great. Just remember, you gotta leave it to salt for a while or you ain’t gonna get any taste on the mackerel.
Wondering about servings? Split the mackerel down the bone and then half both portions. 1 mackerel fish should then serve up about 4 small portions, unless you’re hungry for more.
Salt-Grilled Mackerel with Fried Shallots & Mentaiko on Long-stemmed Broccoli, Rocket & Baby Red Chards
Ingredients
- 1/4 of a mackerel fish
- 1 tbs crushed sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 shallot, sliced
- 1 tbs mentaiko of choice
- 2 tsp salted butter
- handful of long-stemmed broccoli
- handful of favourite salad leaves
- black & white sesame seeds, for garnishing
Wash the mackerel and pat dry with a paper towel. Rub salt all over the fish and leave for about an hour.
Preheat grill to about 185d Celsius.
Season fish with pepper. Place mackerel on a grill tray under the grill for about 5 minutes or until just beginning to crisp up and brown.
In a frying pan with hot oil, fry the shallots till golden brown. Cook the broccoli in boiling water until al dente and then toss in butter. Layer out on a plate the salad leaves and broccoli. Then place fish on top and serve with mentaiko of choice. Finally, garnish with fried shallots and sesame seeds.